Chair.



N0. 667,!62. Patented Ian. 29, [901.

a. A. BOW EN.

CHAIR.

(Application filed m 15. l900.

QNu Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

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No. 667,l62. Patented Ian. 29, l90l.

G. A. BOWEN.

CHAIR.

(Application filed May 15, 1900.

(No llodal.)

2 Sheets-Sheot 2.

UNTTEE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE A. BOWEN, OF MEDINA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO S. A. COOK & 00., OF SAME PLACE.

CHAIR.

SPEGIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 667,162, dated January 29, 1901.

Application filed May 15,1900. Serial No. 16,796. (No model.)

1'0 a/ZZ whom it flea/y concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. BOWEN, a 'citizen of the United States, residing at Medina, in the county of Orleans and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Chairs, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to chairs of the type having swinging and adjustable backs, and

has for its object to improve the means whereby the back is held in a more or less inclined position.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a central vertical section of part of a chair I5 having a reclining back to which my invention is applied. Fig. 2 is a rear view. Figs. 3 and 4 are views similar to Fig. 1, except that the back is in different positions from that shown in Fig. 1. Figs. 5 and 6 are detached perspective views, enlarged, of the catch-plate and pawl, respectively.

In the drawings, A represents the seatframe of the chair, which may be of any usual or preferred construction, the chair shown being provided with arm-rests a.

B represents the swinging back, hinged at its lower edge to the seat-frame, the back being supported between the rear portions of the arms.

Each side bar O of the back is provided with a swinging pawl D, which is provided with a projection, preferably in the form of a pin 01, adapted to engage with a catch-plate or retaining device carried by the frame of the chair. This catch-plate is supported by some suitable part of the seat-frame, and I prefer that it should be secured to a bracket or rearward extension E of the arm a.

I prefer that the chair should be provided with two of these catch or retaining devices for holding the back in an inclined position, one at each side, though it will be understood one such device would be operative.

I prefer that each retaining device for hold- 5 ing the chair-back in inclination should be in the form of a catch or ratchet plate, such as represented in the drawings. It consists of a plate 2, adapted to be attached to one face of the bracket or extension E. The plate is o surrounded by a circumferential flange 3, within which flange and projecting from the plate is a stationary rib or parting-strip 4,

substantially parallel with the opposite sides of the flange 3, so that there are formed two tracks or ways 5 and 6 between the circumferential flange and the central rib, one way on either side of the latter.

The circumferential flange and central parting rib or piece 4 are so shaped that the ways 5 and 6 are curved, the concave or inner sides of the curves being toward the base or hinged end of the back. The lower or rear side of the rib 4c is preferably plain and concentric with the portion of the flange 3 which is opposite thereto, whilethe opposite outer or upper edge of the rib is serrated or provided with a series. of projections 7, with which the pin or projection 01 may engage.

The pawl D is pivoted to the side bar of the swinging back at such a point that this pivot is always above the projection or pin d when the device is in operation, and the construction of the catch or ratchet device is such that. when the back is swung forward and into an upright position, carrying the pin (1 to the upper forward end of the ratchet device, the hinge of the pawl is forward of the pin or projection d, and when the back is swung to the other extreme of its movementthat is, it is inclined as far as it is allowed to go-then the hinge connection of the pawls D is in rear of the pins d as they lie at the lower rearward end of the catch or ratchet plate. The reason for this construction and arrangement is to cause the pawls to readily swing by gravity at the end of each movement of the back, so as to freely clear the central ribs or projections 4.

To secure the action of the pawl just described, it is necessary that the are through which the pivoted end of the pawl moves as the back is being swung from one extreme of position to the other should be different from that through which the free ratchet-plate-engaging end moves, and this is secured by con- 5 structing the ratchet-plate so that the part which unites the two ways at one end (the lower end in the form of invention shown) is nearer to the hinge or fulcrum of the swinging back than are the opposite connected ends we of the ways.

It will be seen by referring to Fig. 3 that when the chair-back is swung forward into a substantial upright position the pins d are drawn forward and out of engagement with the ratcheted sides of the ribs at and then fall therefrom into the upper forward ends of the ways 5. As the chair-back is moved rearward the pins on the pawls travel without obstruction down and backward along the ways 5 until they pass the lower ends of the ribs 4, at which time the hinge-line of the pawls D will be rearward of the projections or pins (1, so that as soon as the pins or projections on the pawls escape the lower ends of the ribs the pawls will swing rearward by gravity and opposite the lower ends of the ways 6. It now the chair-back be lifted, the pins d will be carried upward into the ways 6, and by the time the first projections or ratchet-teeth upon the upper faces of the ribs are reached the hinge-line of the pawls will have passed forward of the pins, so that the latter will freely engage with the said projections, and as the chair-back is moved further forward and upward the pawls will engage with the ratchet-teeth one after another, holding the chair-back in the angular position to which it may be adjusted. It will be readily understood that the back can be raised or brought. toward a vertical position by moving it forward until the pawls engage with the next forward teeth of the ratchet-plates. If, however, it is desirable to give the back a greater inclination, it is first necessary to carry it forward to a substantially vertical position, then to its most rearward position, the pawl projections traveling in the ways 5, and then swing it forward to the position it is desired the back should occupy.

It will be observed from this description and an examination of the drawings that the device which I have described will work accurately and positively through the action of gravity alone.

While I have shown and described my invention as applied to a chair, it will be apparent that it is equally applicable to certain other pieces of furniture having parts one of which is to be swung and maintained in an inclined position relative to the other-as, for instance, to acouch having a head portion which is adapted to be swung and inclined. It will also be apparent that various changes and modifications in construction and arrangement of the parts shown and described may be made and readily suggest themselves without departing from the spirit or scope of my invention. Thus the pawl D and the ratchet or catch plate with which it engages may be reversedthat is to say, the pawl may be attached to some stationary part of the seat-frame and the catch-plate may be carried by the swinging part of the chair or other article of furniture to which the invention may be applied.

hat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with the seat-frameand the hinged back, of a pivoted pawl carried by one of said parts, a catch or ratchet plate carried by the other and provided with two tracks separated by a dividing rib or projection which is provided with projections to be engaged by the pawl upon one side, the two tracks being connected,whereby the pawl may pass from one to the other, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with the frame and a swinging back, of a pawl carried by one of these parts, and a catch or ratchet plate carried by the other, the said catch or ratchet plate being formed with two ways or tracks and a separating strip or partition between the ways or tracks, and with projections to be engaged by the pawl along one side of one of the ways or tracks, the ways or tracks being curved and arranged with their concave sides toward the hinged end of the swinging back, and also connected, whereby the pawl may pass from one track to the other, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination with a scat-frame and a swinging back, of a pivoted pawl and a ratchet-plate with which the pawl engagesone carried by the frame and the other by the back-the ratchet-plate having two ways in which the free end of the pawl is adapted to move, which ways are connected at their ends to permit the pawl to pass from one way to the other, and the connected ends of the ways at one end of the ratchet-plate being nearer to the hinge or fulcrum of the back than the connected ends at the other end of the plate, substantially as described,whereby the pawl swings by gravity from one way into a position to enter the other way when the back is swung to one extreme position, and swings by gravity into a position to enter the first-named way when the back is moved to the other extreme position, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination with a seat-frame and swinging back, of a pawl D having a pin (Z projecting therefrom at its free end, a ratchetplate carried by the seat-frame in rear of the hinge connection of the swinging back, the said ratchet-p1ate being provided with a circumferential flange and a separating-strip or central rib & which is provided with projections or ratchet-teeth upon its upperand rearmost face, the said circumferential flange and central rib being constructed substantially as shown whereby there are formed two curved ways 5 and 6, connected at their ends, in which the pin d of the pawl travels as the back is swung from one position to another.

G. A. BOWEN.

Witnesses:

MYRoN A. Posr, CARL H. BREED. 

